Sunday, April 12, 2009

WWI: Art


This painting by Christopher Nevinson, located on page 886 in our books, is a good representation of trench warfare during WWI. It has harsh lines and few colors. The few colors that are there are a bluish gray resembling metal, red resembling blood, and brown/tan like the mud in the trenches. The barbed wire covers the sky and traps them in. Men were stuck in trenches for long stretchs of time. The men and their weapons are crammed together with little space for movement, just like in the trenches.



http://www.maryevans.com/search.php Germans Ravage France (p. 894)

I would imagine that the French would've do a good job at making Germany look like they bad guy in that poster. This propaganda against Germany shows the mother in agony and distress after being assulted and having her child killed. The poster is telling people to "never forget" (n'oublions jamais) about the attack on Belgium by Germany in the beginning of WWI. General Moltke, head of the German army, demanded the Belgians let him and his army pass through. Because Belgium was neutral, they refused. Moltke then forced his army across Belgium and into France. The next day Britain and France declared war on Germany.













I think that, in some ways, this picture represents the spirit of the Treaty of Versailles and in other ways it does not. The fact that all of the men (left to right: Lloyd George, Clemenceau, Wilson) are dressed very similarly from head to foot shows that they were trying to work together and form a lasting peace. But even though in the picture they seem to be getting along, it did not quite happen so nicely in real life. Clemenceau was determined to punish Germany severely, and they were left out of the treaty process. Wilson was more interested in forgiving Germany, which may have had better effect in avoiding another world war.




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